Tuesday, January 29, 2008

SASOD extends its condolences to the families and
loved ones of the six children and five adults killed
in Lusignan on Saturday morning. We urge that full
support is given to the persons who survived this
massacre, especially the children.

As a society, we seem to have dealt with the violence
which escalated since 2002 on the East Coast by
becoming desensitised to the news of murders which
happen far from us. The more gruesome pictures in
sections of the print media have done little to
galvanise change, but rather it has allowed us to
become dispassionate about murder and violence. There
seems to be little improvement in the capacity of the
security forces to bring the perpetrators of crime to
justice.

Not only has crime grown more sophisticated, but the
pathology of the criminals seems to indicate total
disregard for life and a savagery which seems to have
caught the society completely off guard. The security
forces should then receive all support in order to
deal with this extremity of murder and violence and
should be able to request that support from within and
outside of Guyana.

In a society in which our diversity has been
manipulated to pit us against each other, SASOD urges
all Guyanese to use the expressions of our collective
anger and grief to continue to advocate for the
changes needed in our society to ensure that all
citizens can enjoy a safe and secure life.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

SASOD has joined with the group of citizens calling for a review of the recent EPA
We note with interest the recent statement by President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana in which he observed that the Caribbean stands to gain little from the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) recently negotiated with Europe. President Jagdeo stated that the agreement was concluded against the backdrop of a threat that tariffs would be imposed on Caribbean exports of sugar, bananas and manufactured goods to the European community as of January 1st 2008 if the region did not meet the timeline of December 31, 2007 -- the date when the Cotonou Agreement was set to expire. He suggested that the shift from the principle of preferential trade to one of reciprocity introduces a new set of challenges that the Caribbean is ill equipped to face.

We welcome the candour with which President Jagdeo has now raised several issues that have so far been overlooked by other government leaders, officials and negotiators in the public discussion of the EPA to the extent warranted by the far-reaching consequences of the legally and permanently binding articles of the agreement. We believe that the Caribbean public was not kept fully abreast of the potential implications of the EPA for the course of the region's economic relations, not only with Europe, but with all other trading partners as it may become a blueprint for future trade negotiations. It is regrettable that Caribbean governments and responsible officials did not keep the public better informed about the progress of the negotiations and the 'bullying' and 'broken promises' by Europe to which the President of Guyana referred. We believe that opportunities must be found to remedy this deficit in the future, and that the situation calls for full disclosure, for public explanation of the shortcomings as well as any anticipated benefit of the EPA, and for open participation in a discussion of its implications for our economies and for the livelihoods of our peoples.

It is our understanding that the EPA is due to be signed by Cariforum Ministers on March 15 and to be provisionally applied from April 1. After that, Caribbean countries will be locked in for all time to the provisions of this legally binding instrument. It will be very difficult, and in all likelihood very costly, to amend the EPA after it comes into force. We are urgently proposing that more time and opportunity be provided for a full and public review of the EPA in order that all its aspects are explained and understood and relevant objections taken into account.

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About SASOD

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is a human rights organisation and movement dedicated to achieving equality and justice for all Guyanese, especially those suffering discrimination based on their sexuality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. We support similar work in Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas, Commonwealth, Global South and worldwide.